Budget Retrofit

[olecram39]

I have been wanted to do a retrofit for a while after some persuasion from fellow members so i decided to do it. However,being a college student, I wanted to keep it low cost without sacrificing too much quality. This is my first retrofit and i am by no means an expert, i just wanted to share what I did.

First, a little background info on the headlights. One of the first mods i did to the car when i got it was get a new pair of Ebay black housed headlights which were the ones i was running until yesterday. Becuse they were cheap ebay headlights after two years the clear coat was flaking off. I had kept the OEM headlights which had a lot of oxidation and cracking on the lens but i figured i would combine the best aspects of each pair in order to make ONE good retrofitted pair of headlights.

I bought everything from www.headlightsquick.com. They are an authorized disributor from The Retrofit Source and Morimoto. James Wachs the President of the company was very helpful and handled all of my orders personally. Oh and the best part, they have FREE 2-Day SHIPPING.

Materials and Cost:
HQ Mini H1 Projectors: $45.00 http://www.headlightsquick.com/products/hq-brand-mini-h1-projectors.html
Full Sized Gatling Gun Shroud:$40.00 http://www.headlightsquick.com/products/full-sized-gatling-gun-shrouds.html
*But if you buy it through Amazon you get both for $60.00 Shipped*http://www.amazon.com/Retrofit-Headlights-Projector-Silver-Gatling/dp/B009EDQTTA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1381185672&sr=8-4&keywords=mini+h1+projector

H1 Bulbs: $9.98 on Ebay
HID Kit: Already had one from Ebay.
High Beam Splitters: $10.00 Headlights Quick (If you cant find it on the website, send James an email, tell him what you need and he will get it for you)
Projector Selenoid Plug: $13.00 Headlights Quick
Butyl Glue (optional): $13.00 Ebay. (the roll was huge, way more than i will ever need in my life)

TOTAL: $105.98

Projector Review:: A lot of peopple may be a little skeptical about not using the mainstream/famous H1 Morimoto Minis but let me tell you that these projector are probably as good. I didn't want to spend $120 on projectors alone so i went this route, i figured ANY projector would be better than my plug and play HID kit on a reflector housing.  I have never had the Morimotos in my hand but i did look at a lot of pictures and videos of them and they look exactly the same as these HQ Projectors. The cut off line is very sharp and it even has a bluish/purple tint out of the box, which i know some people usually have to modify the projectors to achieve this.

Proectors:



This is a comparison picture of my retrofit cutoff and my brother in law"s 2012 Infinity G37 Sedan.

Left= G37 Sedan OEM Headlights 
Right= My Retrofit




Close up of blue/purple tint



Here are the OEM Headlights, from which i kept the reflectors and the plastic housing.



From the Ebay Headlights i used the black trim thingy (dont know the name) with the clear reflector and the flaking lens. Obviously i didn't leave the flaking lens, i sanded it down starting with 400 grit sandpaper, followed by 600, 800, 1000, 1200, and 1500. Then i used automotive 2k clear coat that i had left over from when i painted my rear lip and gave the lenses 7 coats of clear coat.




I used this AMAZING little gun that i got from amazon. Very good gun, exceeded my expectation tremendously.

http://www.amazon.com/Tool-Force-A-C1-HVLP-Spray/dp/B000EWYASM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381194718&sr=8-1&keywords=spray+gun

Painted the projector shields and interior stuff graphite gray to match the color of the car.


Trimmed the shrouds to fit the reflectors as exact as i could.






Placed the reflector on the housing.




Went to see if i could aim and adjust the headlights during the day but then realized i had no choice but to wait until it got dark. Fail!



After it got dark and i aimed the headlights it got late so i stopped taking pictures because i wanted to finish. Sorry.

I sealed the headlights back up and this is the end result. 













Overall i am very happy with the result, the only reason why i hadn't done this before was because of the cost, but i found a way to do it on a budget so i am happy. Definitely one of my favorite mods. I love how the full sized Gatling Gun shrouds fill up the headlight and they don't look small like the Mini Gatling Gun shrouds.
Let me know what you guys think and feel free to ask any questions.

[ikethegreat]

For only a hundred bucks, you can't beat that!  Looks nice

[CrackerTeg]

I'm curious why you went with that company for your supplier. The stuff you bought is in TRS' "bargain basement". Granted, HQ is an authorized distributor for TRS but I prefer to deal with the source when it comes to projectors.

[olecram39]

I'm curious why you went with that company for your supplier. The stuff you bought is in TRS' "bargain basement". Granted, HQ is an authorized distributor for TRS but I prefer to deal with the source when it comes to projectors.

I went with them because they have free 2 day shipping and TRS doesn't. And also because since I bought the projectors through amazon I got the projectors AND the full sized gatling gun shrouds for 60. The same combo would've ran me 45+40+shipping from TRS.

[CrackerTeg]

Ah. Makes sense. Nothing like saving a few dollars where you can. Well done hermano.

[cna]

Looks good nice work clean install on them.

[olecram39]

Thank you guys. Glad you approve.

[HEcreated487]

Budget retro!  Nice output, especially for the price   Definitely worth considering.....

[B.R.03EX]

Nice job! Its good to know there is a cheap option for a retrofit.

[Jeff Likes Bagels]

Call James Wachs at Headlights Quick (www.headlightsquick.com) tell him you want the Amazon deal but that you cant find it anymore. He is the owner so he might be able to hook you up, but they have the same kit for $75 instead of $60 on the website. You can always get the same projectors with smaller shrouds, the mini gatling gun (no modification needed for our headlights) for $45.

Man, Now that you reminded me of your thread, I may actually go through with this over winter. I haven't decided yet, but I kind of like how the projector lens is more exposed with the mini gatling:

Gatling:


Mini Gatling:


Of course I had to get this urge after I already ordered the HIR bulbs. Lol. Oh well, my sister's Civic needs brighter lights just as badly. I also think I'll color match the bezel to Graphite Pearl.

[gargantula99]

Let me know how this goes for you, Jeff.

[olecram39]

Even better for you then because like i said, the projectors with the Mini Gatling Gun Shrouds are only $45 with free 2 day-shipping and require no modification so its almost plug and play. If you order them today, you can a have new retrofit for thanksgiving lol

[Jeff Likes Bagels]

Would you mind explaining what the solenoids and high beam splitters do? I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to wiring that's more advanced than positive and negative. Lol.

Oh and what eBay seller did you buy your HID kit from? I don't want to fuck up and get a shitty kit.

[CrackerTeg]

Solenoids move the shield out of the way so that the projector light is allowed to fully shine through. Basically, its a high beam. The splitter allows you to keep your halogen high beams but also plugs into the projector that way you have dual high beams.

[Jeff Likes Bagels]

Ahhh I see. So if I didn't give two shits about having dual high beams, I could get away with not using them.

Except that sounds totally awesome, and the whole point of this project is moar light to begin with. Maybe I'll put the HIR 9012 bulbs into my high beam socket (if it works and doesn't complain about having 35w bulbs in a 50w socket). I bet they would still be brighter than the stock bulbs.